Diabetic Hypoglycemia supports World Diabetes Day

Diabetic Hypoglycemia supports World Diabetes Day on the 14th November 2010 in raising the global awareness of diabetes ( http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/).

The theme of World Diabetes Day in 2010 is "Let's take control of diabetes. Now", which marks the second year of the five-year focus on diabetes education and prevention, the theme selected by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization for World Diabetes Day 2009-2013. The focus of the campaign is to raise awareness of diabetes in the general public, those with diabetes and those at risk. Tools to improve knowledge of diabetes will be disseminated in an attempt to prevent diabetes and/or its complications. It is also a major aim of the campaign to inform governments and policy-makers of the cost-effective implications of diabetes prevention strategies and diabetes education.

In the latest issue of Diabetic Hypoglycemia, Dr Ana Maria Arbelaez and Dr Tamara Hershey from the Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA discuss the effects of hypoglycemia on brain structure and function and how neuroimaging tools can be used to measure these effects over the short, intermediate and long-term. They also describe the areas of the brain thought classically to be particularly susceptible to damage from hypoglycemia, and how technologic advances in imaging techniques show that the brain regions thought to be particularly affected may not be correct. Professor Anthony McCall's related editorial details key points of interest in the feature article and points out the particular vulnerability of the developing brain to hypoglycemia.